Robotics, FIRST Tech Challenge

My role
Captain, Tritonics #17253 (2025–26); electrical lead, #14712 (2024–25); fabrication lead, then operations lead and captain, Ulterior Motive #17253 (2022–24).
Year
2022–2026
Type
Competition robots
Status
High school, 2022–26
Front render of Monti: blue machined side plates with Voronoi cutouts, a turret launcher on top, and three purple and green balls held in the intake

Monti, Tritonics #17253, 2025–26: the render from the cover of our engineering portfolio.

  • With Honu, #14712, we won 1st in NYC and the 2nd-place Think Award at the World Championship.
  • After half the team graduated, we grew from 7 to 14 members in one season.
  • Every subsystem follows an 8-screw rule, so each one comes off in 45 seconds at most.

I did FIRST Tech Challenge all through high school: Ulterior Motive in 9th and 10th grade, #14712 in 11th, where we won first in NYC and took the 2nd-place Think Award at the World Championship, and Tritonics as captain in my senior year. At USC I’m continuing robotics with Advanced Robotic Combat (ARC), the student combat-robotics team.

Results

before the season’s metal robot; 4 intake, 3 launcher and 2 transfer iterations in wood (team measurement)
5full robot iterations
analysed at 8 mm compression; v = d · 2.64 + 1013, 189 hits, 11 misses, correlation 0.9880 (team measurement)
200+launcher trials
AprilTag lock, with 100% odometry availability and ±0.2 cm path deviation (team measurement)
98%
team growth in one season, with a rookie class that was 67% female (team measurement)
7 to 14members

(Robotics, FIRST Tech Challenge)

Robots

  1. Scorpion

    Ulterior Motive #17253, 2022–24 · Fabrication lead

    A motor at the base of the scissor lift pushes the base beams together, and the geometry drives the structure vertically.

    Scorpion on mecanum wheels with its scissor lift raised

    Scorpion, #17253 · Fabrication lead

    • Design Award
    • Innovate Award, 2nd
    • Inspire Award, 2nd
    • Design Award, 3rd

  2. Ball-Drive

    Ulterior Motive #17253, 2022–24 · Operations lead and captain

    Four two-axis balls replace the wheels for more efficient, accurate positioning; it is designed on a master sketch so the parts stay linked.

    Ball-Drive chassis: four ball modules in a blue frame engraved 17253 Tritonics

  3. Swerve Drive

    #14712, 2024–25 · Electrical lead

    A working FTC-scale swerve drive, common in FRC and almost unseen in FTC, co-developed with another team; it competed at NYC-FIRST’s Robot-in-2-Days.

    Swerve drive chassis: four corner modules with toothed belts and bevel gears on a silver frame

  4. Honu

    #14712, 2024–25 · Electrical lead

    Belt-driven wheels for customisable wheel torque and a 3-axis intake for quick sample transfer.

    Honu: a green lattice chassis with a lift tower and gripper head

    Honu, #14712 · Electrical lead

    • 1st place in NYC, advancing to the World Championship
    • Think Award, 2nd place, FTC World Championship
    • Inspire Award, 1st
    • Inspire Award, 2nd, four times
    • Connect Award
    • Innovate Award

  5. Monti

    Tritonics #17253, 2025–26 · Captain

    Modular by rule: eight screws to a subsystem, each one off in 45 seconds at most; a three-ball sorting intake; a hooded flywheel launcher on a 1:1 dual-servo turret.

    Monti render: blue Voronoi side plates and a turreted launcher

    Monti, #17253 · Captain

    • Inspire Award, 1stseason still ongoing when recorded
    • Inspire Award, 2ndseason still ongoing when recorded
    • Innovate Award, 1stseason still ongoing when recorded
    • Inspire Award, 1st (Qualifier 3)FTC DECODE season
    • Inspire Award, 2nd (Qualifier 1)FTC DECODE season
    • Inspire Award, 3rd (Qualifier 9)FTC DECODE season
    • Sustain Award (Super Qualifier 2)FTC DECODE season
Render of the transfer: three purple artifacts in a silver Voronoi frame with a tubing roller

The transfer

The transfer: three artifacts held in order in a Voronoi-cut frame.

Render of the launcher: blue turret ring, adjustable hood and a weighted flywheel

The launcher

The launcher: hooded flywheel on a 1:1 dual-servo turret.

Stress analysis of two robot plates in false colour, blue for low stress and red for high: a Voronoi-cut side plate above and a solid plate with a round cutout below

Side-plate stress analysis

Stress analysis of Monti’s plates: the Voronoi side plate above, a solid plate below.

Launcher speed against shot distanceA chart with shot distance in centimetres along the bottom and launcher speed up the side; one straight line rises from left to right, labelled with the team’s equation.01002003001000130016001900v = d · 2.64 + 1013Shot distance, d (cm)Launcher speed, v
  • The line is drawn from the equation the team published; the individual trials are not published, so no points are plotted.
  • Distance is in centimetres, as the poster deck’s chart labels it. The unit of v is not legible in any source, so the axis carries the equation’s own values.

Launcher tuning: the team’s regression from 200+ trials at 8 mm compression, redrawn from the equation.

How it works

Three drivetrains we have built or used. Move the pointer, or the slider, to steer.

Drivetrain: SwerveFastest and the most complex; not modular. Drive direction 0 degrees.
Drivetrain
0°

Fastest and the most complex; not modular.

The comparison is the team’s own, from our engineering portfolio: swerve fastest and most complex and not modular; ball drive high torque and speed but oversized and not modular; strafer modular and very simple.

Facts

My role
Captain and operations lead, Tritonics #17253 (2025–26): team strategy, the electrical system, documentation and mentoring. Before that, electrical lead on #14712, and fabrication lead, then operations lead and captain, on Ulterior Motive.
When
Ulterior Motive in 9th and 10th grade (2022–24), #14712 in 11th (2024–25), Tritonics in 12th (2025–26, the FTC DECODE season).
With
Team #17253, called Ulterior Motive and later Tritonics (Scorpion, Ball-Drive, Monti), and #14712 (Swerve Drive, Honu). Tritonics is 100% student-led, with no team mentors.
Now
Continuing robotics at USC with Advanced Robotic Combat (ARC), the student combat-robotics team.
Prototypes
Five full robot iterations; 4 intake, 3 launcher and 2 transfer iterations in wood before metal.

(Awards)

  • 2x NYC Champion, Inspire AwardLed electrical design, documentation and mentoring